中国《著作权法》中“时事新闻”一词的概念备受争议，原因在于版权法的用语矛盾：在版权法中，“时事新闻”既指无版权的“单纯事实消息”，又指可能享有版权的“所有新闻作品”。这种用语矛盾源于对于《伯尔尼公约》“current events”一词的误用。作者建议，重新修订版权法时把排除在版权保护之外的“时事新闻”更改为“单纯事实消息”或“纯新闻”。

The concept of "news on current affairs" in Copyright Law is ambiguous because the term "news on current affairs" not only refers to the non-copyrighted "mere facts or happenings ", but also refers to all news works. This term contradiction comes from misuse of "current events" in Berne Convention. The author suggests a revision from “news on current affairs” to “mere fact or happening”.